sgoss66
Well-known member
Tony N (Michigan) said:A normal contrail evaporates in a few seconds. I have seen jets flying at the same altitude and one contrail goes from horizon to horizon and the other jet shows just a tiny contrail that disappears not too far from the jet.
As a meteorologist by profession, I can say that contrails "disappearing" or "lingering" is related to atmospheric conditions in the layer the jet is flying through (moisture/relative humidity, whether atmospheric vertical motion is positive or negative in that layer, etc.)
Steve